Easy vegan Saag Aloo recipe
Easy vegan Saag Aloo recipe – tender potatoes wrapped in spices, this easy vegan Saag Aloo is the best savory potato side dish. Featuring deliciously fragrant spices, tender potatoes, and broccoli, saag aloo makes a great side dish for curry nights or as a main served with fluffy naan bread. A bowlful of warm tender sautéed potatoes, Caramelized spring onions, golden browned broccoli, and crunchy green beans, all fragranced up in savory spices, and speckled with fresh herbs. Yum!
Jump to RecipeSaag Aloo is the ultimate Indian comfort food. Cozy and savory, tender textures mixed with just the right amount of spices…it’s like a warm (or spicy, depending on whether you add chili) hug in a bowl. You can eat it hot or cold, as a main or side dish, an easy lunch or healthy dinner – or munch it down as a tasty savory snack in between meals. It’s like a food manifestation of cozy comfort food, but somehow it’s actually healthy and full of immune system-boosting ingredients.
What is Saag Aloo – Indian potato curry
Saag aloo is a traditional Punjabi dish typically made with a variety of greens (Saag), potatoes, and spices. It’s a spicy potato dish made with lots of spices and green vegetables. It’s closely related to and often mistakenly referred to as an Indian spinach potato curry. But actually, the spinach Aloo is known as Aloo Palak and is equally tasty.
In this easy vegan Saag Aloo post
- Tips and tricks for making The Best Saag Aloo
- Ingredients for making Indian potato curry
- How to make easy vegan spicy potato curry
- Vegetables to jazz up Indian Potato Chickpea Curry
- What to serve with Saag Aloo
- FAQs – All your Saag Aloo questions answered
Tips and tricks for making the best Saag Aloo
Add extra vegetables – don’t be afraid to add your favorite vegetables to this easy potato dish. Spinach is a classic ingredient in Saag Aloo, but you can also add zucchini or squash, kale, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, and anything else you want.
Sauce it up – if you adore sauce as I do, you can add 1/2 cup vegetable stock to deepen the flavor of the dish and make it more creamy. The traditional Saag Aloo is drier without sauce, but in my world, more sauce is always a good idea.
Garnish – a generous garnish of cilantro or basil takes the rustic savory Saag Aloo recipe to the next level of deliciousness.
Making potatoes in the microwave – for a quick way to make potatoes for your saag aloo you can cook the potatoes in the microwave. You can easily cook potatoes in the microwave in as little as 7 minutes. Let’s look at how to make deliciously fluffy and tender potatoes.
A step-by-step guide to making potatoes in the microwave:
- Step 1: Place your potatoes on a microwave-safe plate and lightly brush them with vegetable oil. Season with salt and pepper, cover with a lid, and cook in the microwave for 4-5 minutes.
- Step 2: be careful not to burn yourself, gently flip the potatoes over using a tong and cook another 4-5 minutes.
- Step 3: use a fork or a knife to test when the potatoes are cooked all the way through to a fluffy and tender texture. Keep cooking the potatoes for 2-3 more minutes until they are tender all the way through if needed.
- Step 4: Once the potatoes are cooked all the way through, remove them from the microwave and follow the recipe to make saag aloo.
Cooking potatoes on the stove – making potatoes on the stove is a quick and simple process. All you need is a pot filled with salted water and you’re ready to cook.
Dice the potatoes and place them in a pot or pan. Cover with cold water and add a pinch of salt. Place on the stove and bring the water to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and let the potatoes cook for 7-10 minutes or until they’re tender when you stick a knife in them. Note: using tender cooked-all-the-way-through potatoes is the key to a good potato dish.
Once cooked, drain the potatoes and follow the recipe steps for making Saag Aloo.
Ingredients to make vegan Indian Potato curry – Saag Aloo
Potatoes – any type of potato will work well. Fresh new small potatoes, large starchy potatoes like Yukon Gold, or my favorite Rooster potatoes. I like to use more starchy potatoes that become slightly soft on the outside so they soak up all the spices and vegetable juice. But any type of potato should work well. I’ve made Saag Aloo with freshly small new harvested potatoes and starchy potatoes and all cooking ways turned out delicious.
Broccoli – fresh or frozen broccoli florets make this tasty potato side dish even better. Tender, crunchy, and full of vitamins and minerals. I like to brown my broccoli just a little to bring out the delicious nutty flavor.
Spring onions – spring onions or green onions give the potato dish a rich savory depth. If you don’t have spring onions in the house you can replace them with red onions, yellow onions, or even leeks. In a pinch, you could also substitute with 2 teaspoons of onion powder.
Vegetable oil – olive oil, coconut oil, or avocado oil. A good quality vegetable oil is best in this savory vegan side dish as it will enhance the flavors of the spices.
Seasoning – ground cumin seeds, coriander, turmeric, and garlic make up the spice base of this tasty vegan potato side dish.
How to make Saag Aloo – the best easy Indian Potato Side Dish
Step 1:
Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok and add the spices and spring onion. Let the spices, garlic, and spring onion cook for 3 minutes while stirring occasionally.
Step 2:
Next, add the broccoli florets and mix everything. Leave to cook for a couple of minutes.
Step 3:
Now, add the potatoes and green beans and toss or stir to combine. Cover with a lid and let the potatoes and vegetables cook for 7-10 minutes at medium heat while stirring every few minutes.
Once the potatoes have absorbed the spices and remaining liquid from the vegetables the dish is ready to serve.
Serve with a side of naan bread and fluffy rice and garnish with fresh basil.
Enjoy.
Great Vegetables to add to Saag Aloo – Indian Potato stew veggies
Chili – if you like a spicy Saag Aloo you can add your favorite green chilies. I tend to go for the milder variety like Fresno chilies, but if you like spicy heat you can use Birds Eye chilies or other hot varieties.
Zucchini – although not strictly a traditional ingredient, I love the way zucchini adds freshness and a hint of crunch to the dish. They also soak up the spices and complement the potatoes in the best way.
Spinach – spinach adds a delicious earthy flavor to the dish and is a great replacement for the traditional Punjabi mustard leaves.
Mustard leaves – if you can get them, mustard leaves are the traditional saag aloo ingredient.
Lentils – lentils give the potato dish a wonderful tender texture and add plant-based protein to the dish.
Beans – black beans, butter beans, red beans, and more. Beans are a great way to add plant-based protein to the vegan Saag Aloo.
Chickpeas – chickpeas are one of my favorite veggies to add to my Saag Aloo. They give the dish extra plant-based protein while also soaking up the spices and adding extra nutrients. Yum.
Bell peppers – green peppers, yellow peppers, or a mix of bell peppers add extra crunch, a hint of spice, and a delicious nutritious boost.
What to serve with the best easy Saag Aloo
Saag aloo is great as a side dish, but can also be served as a main with naan bread or garlic bread and fluffy rice. Or you can pair the savory vegan potato side dish with these 5 favorites:
FAQs – all your vegan gluten-free savory potato casserole questions answered
Yes, Saag Aloo is a great meal prep recipe because it can be served hot or cold and made in advance.
You can store Saag Aloo in a clean sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat before serving. Note: the potatoes taste best freshly made.
Yes. Potatoes can easily be frozen. Just store in a freezer-safe container or ziplock bag for 3-4 months. Allow to thaw in the refrigerator overnight and reheat before serving.
You can reheat potato stew and Saag Aloo in several ways
The oven way: Reheat the saag aloo in a casserole dish covered with tinfoil for 20-30 minutes at 400F, or until the potatoes are heated all the way through.
The microwave way: Place the saag aloo in a microwave-safe container and reheat at a high temperature for 2 minutes. Check if the potatoes are heated all the way through, then reheat them one more minute if necessary. Check again, and continue heating in intervals until the saag aloo is hot.
There are just around 250 calories per serving in Saag Aloo.
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Easy vegan Saag Aloo recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 2½ cups (350g) Potatoes diced and boiled
- ½ head Broccoli florets
- ½ cup (65g) Green Beans ends cut off
- 3 Spring Onions chopped
- 4 cloves Garlic finely chopped
- 1 tsp Ground Cumin
- 1 tsp Ground Coriander
- 1½ tsp Ground Turmeric Powder
- ½" (1cm) Fresh Ginger grated or finely chopped
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok and add the spices and spring onion. Let the spices, garlic, and spring onion cook for 3 minutes while stirring occasionally. Next, add the broccoli florets and mix everything. Leave to cook for a couple of minutes.
- Now, add the potatoes and green beans and toss or stir to combine. Cover with a lid and let the potatoes and vegetables cook for 7-10 minutes at medium heat while stirring every few minutes.
- Once the potatoes have absorbed the spices and remaining liquid from the vegetables the dish is ready to serve.Serve with a side of naan bread and fluffy rice and garnish with fresh basil.Enjoy.
